A NEW type of genetically modified potato in Britain is likely to have survived the Irish potato famine in 1845, according to scientists.
The strain appears to be immune from the vegetable's biggest threat - blight, which led to the great famine.
Scientists made the discovery following recent trials, however they could not determine the length of time that the GM potatoes would resist blight.
Late blight, caused by the organism Phytophthora infestans, remains the potato farmer's greatest enemy to this day.
Each year farmers spend millions of euro keeping the infection at bay with pesticides. In a bad year, losses and control measures combined can account for half the total cost of growing potatoes.
In the latest of a series of field trials, conducted in the UK in 2012, the fungus was unable to break down the defences of any of the GM potatoes.
Professor Huw Jones, said: "Obviously a risk assessment is needed before these can be marketed but this is a great example of publicly-funded plant science with a real benefit to UK farming."
Scientists are now carrying out further research aimed at identifying multiple resistance genes that will prevent future outbreaks of blight.
The Irish potato famine of 1845 claimed the lives of more than 750,000 Irish men, women and children over a 10 year period and a further two million people left the country.
The research is published in the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.
